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Cell

As explained in Classic Computer Science Problems in Swift: Essential techniques for practicing programmers

Cell is a book-specific enumeration representing the contents of a maze location, including empty and blocked spaces.

Cell is a Swift enumeration for the contents of one maze location. Its Character raw values make maze grids easy to print while distinguishing empty, blocked, start, goal, and path locations. section 2.2

A maze uses these Cell cases:

  • Empty (`O`) marks a traversable space. section 2.2
  • Blocked (`X`) marks a wall that successor generation cannot enter. section 2.2
  • Start (`S`), Goal (`G`), and Path (`P`) support displaying a solved maze. section 2.2
// A Cell represents the status of a grid location in the maze
enum Cell: Character {
    case Empty = "O"
    case Blocked = "X"
    case Start = "S"
    case Goal = "G"
    case Path = "P"
}

typealias Maze = [[Cell]]

Use the compact enum and Maze type definition to see how cell states become a printable two-dimensional grid. section 2.2

How Classic Computer Science Problems in Swift: Essential techniques for practicing programmers covers it

How deep it goes
Defines five raw-character cases and demonstrates their use, but defers broader enumeration design.
Examples
Uses O and X for generated mazes, then marks solutions with S, G, and P.
What it assumes
Assumes familiarity with Swift enums, raw values, arrays, and maze-grid coordinates.
What you can do after
Build it from scratch in Swift as a printable maze grid with traversability and solution-state markers.
How it connects
Connects maze representation with maze locations, successor functions, pathfinding, and breadth-first, depth-first, and A* search.

This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Classic Computer Science Problems in Swift: Essential techniques for practicing programmers. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.